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Winemaker's Notes:

This is a denser version of the 1990 that stylistically reminds me of what the young 1959 probably tasted like. Still backward with a deep ruby/plum color revealing only a touch of lightening at the edge, the wine offers up an extraordinary nose of caramelized herbs, smoke, cedar, pen ink, black currants, and earth. The gorgeous aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, plump, rich, fleshy wine with low acidity. With 6-8 hours decanting in a closed decanter, it will offer beautiful drinking, but it needs another 5-8 years to reach full maturity. It is capable of lasting 50-60 years. This classic Lafite is not as fat and concentrated as the 1982 Latour, nor as complex or concentrated as the 1982 Mouton Rothschild, but it is a winner all the same. (Wine Advocate # 183 June 2009)

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Chateau Lafite Rothschild grew from a 180 acre winery to a massive company spanning multiple countries and producing 35,000 cases of wine annually. When Baron James de Rothschild purchased Chateau Lafite on August 8th, 1868, he was purchasing land that was already full of history. According to the 1855 classification, Chateau Lafite was ranked among the first among the First Growths,... Read more

Chateau Lafite Rothschild grew from a 180 acre winery to a massive company spanning multiple countries and producing 35,000 cases of wine annually. When Baron James de Rothschild purchased Chateau Lafite on August 8th, 1868, he was purchasing land that was already full of history. According to the 1855 classification, Chateau Lafite was ranked among the first among the First Growths, meaning that it made the best, most expensive wine at the time. Though James de Rothschild didn’t live long enough to see his winery prosper, since he died just three months after founding the chateau, his offspring have preserved the chateau’s high standing for generations.
The winery’s first major purchase took place in 1962, when they bought the dying Chateau Duhart-Milton. By that time, the once-thriving vineyard had only 42 acres to its name, but Chateau Lafite Rothschild breathed new life into the property, upgrading the equipment and replanting much of the vines. 1984 marked the start of a long chain of purchases, with Chateau Rieussec in 1984, Vina Los Vascos, in Chile, in 1988, and Chateau l’Evangile in 1990. By 1999, they began restoring the Aussieres Estate, a massive 1,500 acre plot, and in 2008 they announced plans to create a winery in Penglai, China. After all this, Baron Eric de Rothschild, the current owner of the estate, continues to look forward toward the future, with new markets, like China, just over the horizon.
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This is a denser version of the 1990 that stylistically reminds me of what the young 1959 probably tasted like. Still backward with a deep ruby/plum color revealing only a touch of lightening at the edge, the wine offers up an extraordinary nose of caramelized herbs, smoke, cedar, pen ink, black currants, and earth. The gorgeous aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, plump, rich, fleshy wine with low acidity. With 6-8 hours decanting in a closed decanter, it will offer beautiful drinking, but it needs another 5-8 years to reach full maturity. It is capable of lasting 50-60 years. This classic Lafite is not as fat and concentrated as the 1982 Latour, nor as complex or concentrated as the 1982 Mouton Rothschild, but it is a winner all the same. (Wine Advocate # 183 June 2009)